Black River
by AsterEris
Summary: BASED MOSTLY ON MOVIE Lucy Pevensie returns to Narnia with her cousins, Anna and Wren. There they meet Caspian, Trumpkin, Reepicheep and others. But all is not well in Narnia, and it is up to the three girls to help their new friends. Sum. inside
1. Chapter 1

Narnia:

**The Black River**

**Co-authored by AviorHyrax and AsterEris. **

**Anna and Wren, twins from the country around London, are Lucy Pevensie's cousins. They visit Lucy at her house in London, and somehow end up in Narnia. This takes place between ****Prince Caspian**** and ****The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.**** Also, we're kind of basing it half on the books and half on the movie – the characters are the ones from the movie but it's going to be written like the books, and the stuff that was in the movie that wasn't in the books, didn't happen here. Kind of confusing, but I guess it doesn't really matter much anyway.**

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"Is there a light?" asked Anna, as she closed the trapdoor above them.

"Yes," replied Lucy. A moment later, the basement was flooded with a watery light from a single light bulb on the ceiling.

The three girls, Lucy, Anna, and Wren had decided to explore Lucy's great big house in London. They had already peeked in all of the rooms, and had now moved on to the scarier places, like the cupboard under the stairs, and now the basement. Anna and Wren were cousins of Lucy's, come to stay for the holidays.

"Much better," Anna said, climbing down the ladder to the basement floor. Her dark hair bounced in front of her face as she hopped to the ground.

"This is the bomb shelter where we hid during the Blitz," Lucy commented as Wren and Anna turned around, slowly taking in their surroundings.

Wren knocked on the cement walls, and then jumped away as dust sprinkled on her head. "It's awful," she grumbled. "We didn't have bomb shelters in the country during the war. I suppose the Germans don't bother themselves with farms and things."

"We don't live on a farm, Wren," Anna said, tapping her sister on the shoulder.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing much more to see down here," Lucy said after they had all taken a good look at the dim room. "We'd better head back up for tea. Mother will throw a fit if we don't get back in time."

Wren nodded mutely and reached for the rickety ladder.

"Wait," said Lucy suddenly, pulling on Wren's skirt. "Does it feel…different, to you?"

Anna and Wren looked at each other (for Lucy had the queerest look on her face), and shook their heads. "No, not really, Lu," said Anna. "Why?"

"Well," muttered Lucy, "I just thought I felt something. Go on, Wren. Open the trapdoor."

Wren ascended the ladder quickly, and then reached up and shoved at the door. It didn't budge. "Oh dear! It's stuck! Oh, Lucy, whatever happened? It was fine on the way down."

"Calm down," Anna scolded. "Just push harder."

Wren knocked on the door a few times, and then battered at it, yelling, "Please! Oh please, someone open the door! We're stuck down here! Oh Anna, we'll die! Please open the door!"

"Oh shush, Wren! I'm trying to think," Anna grumbled. Wren fell silent, sniffing indignantly.

"Hang on," said Lucy after a long moment of waiting. "Do you hear something? I could swear I heard footsteps."

It was true – when all the girls stopped talking and listened, they heard the thump of someone walking above their heads. Plaster dropped from the ceiling, and one chunk nearly hit Anna on the head.

Then there was a sudden creak, and the trapdoor was flung wide, revealing a tiny little man with a bushy red beard, staring down at them through beady black eyes. He and Wren stared at each other for a moment, and then Wren let out a piercing shriek and toppled off the ladder, her arms waving furiously.

"What's going on?" Anna cried, trying to get a glimpse of the open door. But Lucy was already scaling the ladder, her face stretched in a wide grin.

"Dear little friend!" she exclaimed, tumbling out of the basement and throwing her arms around the strange creature.

"Queen Lucy!" he called out, surprise evident in his voice.

By this time, Anna had emerged from the dark room, pulling a struggling Wren behind her. "Lucy, what's all this? Where are we? Is this a trick? Who's that?" she demanded.

Lucy opened are mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word, Anna and Wren both let out little yelps of surprise, and jumped. For another creature had just arrived, and he was standing before them, waving a tiny rapier and squealing, "State your names, trespassers! I demand to know the nature of this intrusion!"

Anna recovered first, and stared at the mouse (for that is what it was), open mouthed. Wren stood behind her, gaping in shock.

"But, you're only a mouse!" They said in unison, staring at it.

"Again, Your Highness, your kind has no imagination whatsoever," muttered the mouse to Lucy, keeping his eyes on the twins. He sheathed his rapier after realizing that these girls must be friends of hers.

By this time, Lucy had finished greeting the dwarf, and she now turned to see to her cousins, who were clutching each other in fear. With a delighted smile, she hurried forward and said to the mouse, "Why, Reepicheep! Hello!" she cried, but she didn't hug the mouse. Reepicheep bowed to her, the red plume around his ear fluttering as he bent low to the ground.

"We have awaited meeting your majesty again with the utmost anticipation. But," he squeaked suddenly, straightening and looking around. "Where is the High King? And King Edmund, and Queen Susan? Have they come as well?"

Lucy frowned. "I don't think so. They're all away."

"What a shame. But it is good to see _you_ again, to be sure. And pray, who are your…companions?" Reepicheep questioned, looking over Anna and Wren with calculating button eyes.

"These are my cousins, Wren and Anna. They're from the country, they've come to stay with us for a few weeks while their parents are on holiday."

Now that the excitement had died down, the girls were finally able to get a good look at their surroundings. They were in a small hallway, with a wide wooden door at the end. Reepicheep and the dwarf had been carrying baskets of scrolls – or rather, the dwarf had, for Reepicheep had only the strength to carry one.

"Say, Trumpkin - where have we come out?" Lucy asked the dwarf. Anna and Wren didn't quite understand this, but Trumpkin seemed to.

"We're in the west wing of the royal castle, your majesty. The King's holding a meeting with all his lords, trying to decide what to do about the famine, and the poisoned water supplies," replied Trumpkin gruffly. He had gathered all his scrolls again, and was setting off toward the door.

"Famine?" cried Lucy. "How horrible! Why, we really ought to help. Come on Anna, Wren. You can come and meet the King."

The twins remained where they were, staring at their younger cousin warily. "Come off it, Lucy," Wren said quietly. "What on earth is going on? Where are we?"

Lucy laughed and replied cheerfully, "Why, we're in Narnia!"

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	2. Chapter 2

**Kay, here's Chapter 2, by me, AsterEris. This is kind of going to be written from Wren's point of view. Avi and I are sort of each a character, like Anna is modeled mostly after her, and Wren is modeled after me. So I am writing in "my" POV. Also – what kinds of things do they eat in Narnia? Do they have corn? If not, correct me, but I'm assuming in here that they do.**

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There was nothing for the twins do except follow their cousin, holding hands and pausing warily whenever Reepicheep turned to glare slyly at them.

"I don't trust these people, whatever Lucy says," Wren muttered in her sister's ear. Anna nodded, too distracted to speak.

It seemed a strangely long while before they reached the grand wooden door, but Wren supposed that this must be because they were so focused on every step, it must feel like a hundred more. As soon as Trumpkin curled his hairy fist around the iron door handle, both girls tensed up, afraid of what other weird phenomenon they might encounter in the next room. But, just as surprising, the room was almost unnaturally normal.

It was high-ceilinged, but not overly so, with a sensible stone floor and wide, glass-paned windows that let in some late sunlight. There was a long, low wooden table that stretched the length of the room, surrounded by a set of high-backed matching chairs. In each chair sat (presumably) the Lords and Ladies of the King's court.

Lucy immediately ran forward and began to greet each courtier by name, leaving Anna and Wren standing awkwardly in the doorframe. Finally, someone seemed to realize that something had happened, and suddenly a great chatter filled up the room.

"Silence!" someone roared. Wren couldn't see whom, but the voice was very commanding, and everyone instantly stopped talking.

"Am I right," the authoritative voice continued in a much pleasanter tone, "In addressing the Queen Lucy of Narnia?"

Lucy, who had returned to keep her cousins company at the door, curtsied low and replied in a voice that Wren had only heard come out of her mouth a very few times, "Indeed, your majesty. The very same!" She hadn't stopped smiling since the three girls had come out of the basement.

Now, finally, Wren could catch a good look at who was speaking, because he suddenly stood. It was a boy of perhaps sixteen years **(A/N: In the books he's supposed to be fifteen, but in the movie he kind of looks 20, so I evened it out just a bit. And just BTW, for anyone who cares, the actor in the movie is really 27…)**, with long dark hair and calculating dark eyes. He was dressed in quiet splendor, if there is such a thing, in a tunic of rich blue cloth and a cloak of dark golden velvet.

"But who are your companions?" he asked calmly, and Wren noticed that his voice had a strange lilt to it, rather like the Italians or the Spaniards who wandered around London's wharfs.

"These are my twin cousins, Anna and Wren Thomas. They're from the countryside," Lucy replied, gesturing to each girl in turn. Anna immediately bowed her head and curtsied, dragging Wren down beside her with a sharp tug.

"Any friend of the Queen's is a friend of ours," the King said, nodding to them each in turn. "And I, for those of you that have not visited our land before," he continued, looking straight at Wren, "am King Caspian the Tenth of Narnia, and Emperor of the Lone Islands."

The two girls nodded meekly. There was an uncomfortable pause, and then Caspian suddenly smiled and said loudly, the commanding air gone from his voice, "Don't just stand their, my Lords, Ladies! Come; greet your Queen and her guests! It is not every day that a hero out of legend visits our dim halls."

At this there was a great shifting of chairs, and then creatures of all kinds, man and beast, and everything in between, were suddenly crowding around Lucy, shaking her hand and trying to get a word in with her before someone else shoved them away.

Meanwhile, the two girls, who knew very little of their cousin's adventures in Narnia, if anything at all, were huddled against the wall, trying to make sense of a very strange day.

"I think we really ought to be leaving," Wren murmured as they watched a very tall, black-furred centaur stride past on his way to shake Lucy's hand. "Mother'd kill us if she knew we were here."

"She doesn't know a thing, of course!" Anna scolded. She had begun to enjoy herself just a tiny bit, and was watching the scene with a rapt curiosity.

"Anna! Snap out of it!" Wren hissed. "I'll pinch you in a moment, and we'll wake and it'll all have been just a horrid, horrid dream!" But even she was beginning to relax, especially as it was hard not to laugh at a horde of unusually large rodents clamoring at Lucy's feet for a chance to touch her hand.

Finally, all of the courtiers had returned to their seats, and only King Caspian remained standing, leaning against the table with a good-natured smile on his face.

"And now, my friends, I'm afraid we must return to the matter at hand." He turned and gestured to Trumpkin the dwarf, who came forward with Reepicheep and dropped the scrolls in front of Caspian on the table. The King reached for them, and then looked up at Lucy and frowned.

"Will you join us, your majesty?" he asked. "Your presence would be invaluable, but I would have you comfortable before we force our problems onto you. Are you hungry, or tired? I suppose we could postpone our meeting until tomorrow."

Lucy quickly shook her head, and found herself a seat at the wooden table between a goat-legged faun and a huge black dog. Everyone settled down and Caspian was about to being speaking again when he stopped and frowned again, and this time looked at Anna and Wren.

"Would you join us as well?" he asked. "I don't know how well you're versed in Narnian policy, but as I said, a friend of the Queens is a friend of ours. Would you like to be taken upstairs? I could have a maid prepare you a room."

Wren, who was in fact rather tired and wouldn't have minded getting away somewhere to plan an escape, was about to open her mouth and say that a room upstairs would be lovely, when Anna cut her off and said, "Of course we'll join you. Narnian policy can't be anything too dreadfully different from English policy, can it?" No one but Lucy understood her, but it was clear enough when she pulled out two empty chairs and took one herself. Wren hesitated, glancing anxiously at the large black bear that was seated next to her, but as soon as she discovered that the creature was in fact fast asleep, she consented to take the chair next to her sister.

Satisfied, Caspian picked up the first scroll on the pile and unrolled it carefully, his eyes scanning the contents.

"It says here," he began, his voice ringing out over the table, back to its commanding tone, "That there have been four instances of poisoned water in the Great River. The first: Regmas Renth, who lives a few leagues out of Beruna, was going to draw water from a pond that is fed by the Great River. He pulled up a bucket, and discovered the water to be tinged black. When he tasted it, it was bitter, and later he had a violent stomach ache."

The King paused, his gaze troubled, and looked up the people seated around the table.

"But that's awful!" Lucy spoke up. "Is it like that everywhere? How is anyone getting any water?"

Caspian shook his head. "There are only a few isolated cases, and they differ slightly each time," he replied. "It seems to be a relatively rare problem, at least so far. But I trust every one of my subjects, and I doubt that they're inventing black, poisoned water. My question is: will it spread? And then, your majesty, Narnia will have a true problem."

There was an ominous murmur among the other creatures at the table. One female centaur near the end of the table spoke up, "What about the River Rush? Have there been any cases reported?"

"None," Trumpkin said from Caspian's elbow. "I asked a messenger this morning."

"We could survive on the water from the River Rush until the problem was solved," a dwarf suggested.

"But how long would that water stay pure?" another dwarf argued. "The rivers join at Beruna! It's only a matter of time before some of that poison gets into the whole system, and then we're done for."

"Don't be such a pessimist!" said the black dog who sat at Lucy's right. He lifted a paw and placed it on the table, staring around at his fellows. "It could be that this is just a passing problem, and we'll have to wait it out! Perhaps if we only boil the water, the poison will go away."

There was a general nodding of heads, but some of the creatures just glared at the dog and frowned.

"A good point, friend," Caspian agreed. "Perhaps we are making the issue far bigger than it should be. I will have some experts look into it, and make a decision after we know more."

"Unfortunately," said Trumpkin once everyone had quieted down. "The poisoned water isn't our only issue." He pointed the King to another scroll, with the dark-haired boy opened quickly.

"_Four corn crops destroyed by a mysterious disease near Beaversdam. Late harvests causing problems for farmers. _How much money have we lost on this?" demanded the King, staring down at Trumpkin furiously.

Trumpkin shrugged and replied ambiguously, "Enough to cause some worry, your majesty."

Caspian ran a hand through his hair and sat down, reading the rest of the scroll. When he had finished, he passed it on to the centaur standing next to him and clenched his hands into fists.

"Is there anything to be done?" asked the centaur beside hi, having passed on the paper.

"I suppose we must find a way to combat this new blight," Caspian replied. "But it seems that quite a few have tried, and failed. At this rate, we'll have a full-blown famine in Narnia, and perhaps a drought on top of it? Why together, I might add? Perhaps this is the work of our enemies."

A stunned silence followed Caspian's words.

"A famine and a drought?" murmured the black dog, his eyes wide. "A clever way to weaken one's opponent before launching an attack. Far too clever for any Galmans, or Terebinthians. They wouldn't have the resources, besides."

A tired looking man sitting near Wren spoke up, waving his hand wearily in front of his face, "What about the Calormens? They're not too fond of us, are they? Or the Lone Islands? They'd love to become independent of Narnia."

Caspian glared at him, and folded his hands on the table. "Calormen isn't preparing for an attack. I would have had news of it by now. And the Lone Islands aren't large enough to attack us, at least not that I know of. Our most logical explanation hardly seems likely now, does it?" He sighed, and rubbed a hand across his forehead.

"Can't you just isolate the blight and save the rest of the crops? Let the disease die out before it infects anything else?" Anna spoke up.

A silence fell, and Caspian looked up, surprised that she had spoken. He glanced at Lucy, who shrugged, and then addressed Anna, "I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean."

Anna opened her mouth to speak, but then a bad-tempered-looking leopard cut her off and growled shortly, "It's impossible. The crops are too delicate at this stage in their growth."

The King sighed again, and Wren found herself pitying him – he looked so young now, as opposed to the strong figure that had stood at the head of the table when she and her sister had walked in. His eyes were darker than ever and full of fear for his beloved country. _There must be something we can do…._ She thought to herself, as she watched Caspian stare despairingly at his clenched hands.

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